Egrets (/ˈiːɡrəts/EE-grəts) areherons, generally long-legged wading birds, that have white or buff plumage, developing fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season. Egrets are not a biologically distinct group from herons and have the same build.

Egret
Eastern great egret (Ardea alba modesta)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Pelecaniformes
Family:	Ardeidae
Subfamily:	Ardeinae
Groups included
Egretta Ardea Bubulcus Mesophoyx
Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa
Nycticorax Nyctanassa Gorsachius Butorides Agamia Pilherodius Ardeola Syrigma

Many egrets are members of thegeneraEgretta orArdea, which also contain other species named as herons rather than egrets. The distinction between a heron and an egret is rather vague, and depends more on appearance than biology. The word "egret" comes from the French wordaigrette that means both "silver heron" and "brush", referring to the long, filamentous feathers that seem to cascade down an egret's back during the breeding season (also called "egrets").

Several of the egrets have been reclassified from one genus to another in recent years; thegreat egret, for example, has been classified as a member of eitherCasmerodius,Egretta, orArdea.

In the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, some of the world's egret species were endangered by relentlessplume hunting, since hat makers in Europe and the United States demanded large numbers of egret plumes, leading to breeding birds being killed in many places around the world.^[1]

SeveralEgretta species, including theeastern reef egret, thereddish egret, and thewestern reef egret, have two distinct colours, one of which is just white. Thelittle blue heron has all-white juvenile plumage.

• Great egret or great white egret,Ardea alba
• Great blue heron,Ardea herodias
• Intermediate egret,Mesophoyx intermedia
• Western cattle egret,Ardea ibis
• Little egretEgretta garzetta
• Snowy egret,Egretta thula
• Reddish egret,Egretta rufescens
• Slaty egret,Egretta vinaceigula
• Black egret,Egretta ardesiaca
• Chinese egret,Egretta eulophotes
• Eastern reef egret orPacific reef heron,Egretta sacra
• Western reef egret orWestern reef heron,Egretta gularis
• Eastern cattle egret,Ardea coromanda

Egrets inhabit all continents; although they typically avoid the coldest regions, arid deserts, and very high mountains. They hunt and live in both saltwater and freshwater marshes.^[2]

•   Data related toArdeidae at Wikispecies
• Well written and illustrated Egret articleEncyclopaedia Britannica
• Great egretArdea albaArchived 2017-01-03 at theWayback Machine—USGS+24r5